City getting serious about architecture

Downtown development has become a focal point for the city. And thankfully so. Getting structures built is one thing; what they will look like is another.

City Design Center, a new city department, is crafting architecture/design guidelines for downtown.

“We’re trying to protect downtown’s sense of authenticity, which means using local materials, local forms and shapes, things that are uniquely San Antonio,” City Design Center director Mark Brodeur said. “As we see new developments being built recently, those buildings could have been built and dropped in any community in Texas. We want to recapture developing buildings that have a sense of San Antonio’s authenticity.”

The new standards will address infill development on private property — the preferred materials, how it relates to the street and sidewalk, etc.

The idea is to take downtown’s landmark buildings — the Tower Life Building, for example — and use them as guidelines, not necessarily carbon copies.

“The new architecture has to be inspired by the old architecture,” Brodeur said.

The document could become available for public input in April or May. The goal is for it to be adopted in June or July.

Brodeur did say some of the guidelines will be broad and apply to all of downtown. Others might be specific to the center city.

They’re still trying to determine the scope of the guidelines. In other words, what is downtown?

“That’s still the subject of some debate,” Brodeur said. “There’s still some thought to possibly expand it to the Frio corridor, the near East Side, and potentially areas around the Pearl. So that hasn’t been finalized yet.”

There is no catalytic development that’s the reason for the new guidelines, Brodeur said. It’s just something downtown needs.

“There’s certainly a sense that this is something we want to do, but there isn’t a pending project out there that we know is coming that’s going to be distasteful to everybody,” Brodeur said.

Last fall, a new set of guidelines for historic buildings was adopted. The new set of design guidelines is intended to complement the historic guidelines, which are used by city historic preservation staff and the Historic and Design Review Commission.

Brodeur said architects he’s talked to have been supportive of the guidelines.

“Most of the local architects here really do understand what’s needed to develop authenticity,” Brodeur said.

After the design guidelines are set, a second document addressing street capes for public rights of way will be worked on.

On Wednesday night, Brodeur is participating in “Building Out of S.A.’s Comfort Zone,” a free forum by news website Plaza de Armas, about innovative architecture and landscape design in San Antonio.